Method of installing telephone distributing terminals



J y 5 J. w. CHANNELL. 2,683,304

METHOD OF INSTALLING TELEPHONE DISTRIBUTING TERMINALS Filed Sept. 6, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 aesooeoseoo July 13, 1954 w CHANNELL 2,683,304

METHOD OF INSTALLING TELEPHONE DISTRIBUTING TERMINALS Filed Sept. 6. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. azzrzefi.

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Patented July 13, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE METHOD .OF INSTALLING TELEPHONE DISTRIBUTING TERMINALS J amesW. Channel], San Merino, Calif. ApplicationSeptember 6, 1950, SesialNo.'183;389

4 Claims. 1

inventionrelates to electrical cables, and ore paigt lcularly methods ,of providing distributing terminals for sheathed, multi-conductor -cables of the :type commonly employed in the telephone industry, ,an:l as exemplified in United states Letters Patent Number 18,755 and 2,434,102, issued .to me, respectively, on May 11, 194.3, and January 6.11948.

,An object of m present invention is to provide a jinethod of installing a distributing terminal .or" the general type illustrated in my said patents, which constitutes an improvement over the meth d-snowin common use .as well as over the :methods described in those patents .for the dollowing reasons, among others:

:it makes it pos ible to install a hi hly satlslactory distributing terminal in operative association with.aniulti-conductor sheathed cable without maltin anysplices, and without the .customary wiped leadsleevezto enclose and hermetically seal such splices which heretofore have required :the services of highly trained specialists commanding a rate of hay far higher than the customary :pay of workmen fully qualified to install distributing terminals in accordance with the methQd-of the present invention.

@SQCGDCL it con-templates connecting each of (the several conductors of the cable :for which terminals are to "be provided, directly to a :ter-

.minakpost individual thereto, .by securing there- $0 a high-t portion of the conductor rather than an end of a stub, or branch wire, thus further simplifying the o eration of installing the distributing terminal by eliminating any need for a separate stub wire {for each cable conductor being connected to a terminal post.

Third, it simplifies the operation of establishing a fluid-tight seal between thesheathed cable and the shell of the distributing terminal at each of thepoints where the cable .passes through 'a wall of the shell.

Fourth, my present method makes it relatively simple and easy .to connect the conductors of a branch cable ,to selected. onesof the conductors ofa main cable, without splicing and without the wiped lead sleeves heretofore required for such ,a connection and regardless of whether the branch and main cables are so connected in the same shell as that which is also used .as a distributing terminal, or in .one which ,is individual to the branch and main .cable connectime.

The invention possesses other objects and features of -,advan t age, some {of which, with the foregoing, will he set forth in the following descripillustrating subsequent ,steps in the 2 ,tion of the ,prefierrediorm of :my invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification. t is to be understood that I do not limit myself to th showing madeby the-said drawings-and description, ,as -I mayadopt variations of the preferred form within the scopeof ray-invention as set forth the claims.

Referring :to the drawings:

PFligure 1 .is a longitudinal, ,medial sectional view .of a distributing terminal shell mounted upon a supporting strand as .the first step of the method or" thepresent invention.

Figure 2 -is -a front elevation of the shell .01 Fig. 1 showing the cable, certain conductors of which are to be provided with terminals, rove therethroush.

Figures -3. 4;, and 5 are -.vie.ws similar to I lig. 2, but showing the ,hinged cover plate raised, and method of the present invention, Figure .5 being drawn .to an enlarged .scale.

Figures is a transverse vertical sectional view, .the plane of section being indicated by the line Lii-B .of Fig. .5, and the direction of View by the arrows, .but illustrating the apparatus with the parts thereof ,in the respective positions thereof upon completion .of vthe method of the present invention.

.Figure 7 .is adetail .view in horizontal, medial section through the .stufling box and packing at one .end of the apparatus, ,the plane of section being indicated by .the line L4 of Fig. 5, and the direction of view .by the arrows.

Figure v8 is atra-nsverse, ventical sectional view taken upon the line 18-- 8 of Fig. 7, with the ,di- .reotion .of view as indicated.

Figurefiis a fragmentary, detail view, viewing theapparatus .tromone end thereof .to illustrate .the manner of its being suspended .upon a supp rting strand.

o convey an understanding of the method ofinstalling adistributing terminal contemplated by the present invention, a brief description .or'

I the apparatus required will first .be-given. This :apparatusresemblesdn agood many respects the distributing terminals respectively forming the subject matter of .my two earlier patents here- :inabove identified. it comprisesa one piece box- ,like structure .or shell indicated in its entirety lat oil having .anopening 1.2 in its front wall adapted to be closed and hermetically sealed by .apanel -13 .of suitable rigid insulating material such ,as Bakelite, sheet 'plastig-or the like. This con- .:nection plate or panel I3 :is adapted to besecured rigidly and tightly in position closing the front of the shell H as by a suitable number of screws is threadedly engaged within the shell to compress a gasket between the panel 13 and a fiat shoulder is surrounding the opening l2.

The panel 83 is provided with a suitable number of terminal posts ll each comprising a relatively short rod I8 of conductive material extending through the panel l3 and far enough beyond each face thereof to make its end easily accessible so as to facilitate connection of wires thereto as will hereinafter be described. Binding screws 2! and 22 are 'threadedly engaged with the outer and inner ends respectively oi each terminal post ll and preferably washers 23 and 2d are associated with the screws El and 22 respectively. Inasmuch as it is customary in commercial telephone work to extend service wires from the distributing terininals in electrically associated pairs, the panel i3 is preferably provided with an even number of terminal posts ll suitably spaced apart in their mounting upon the insulative material or the panel It to insure their being suitably electrically insulated from each other; and inasmuch as one form of standard distributing terminal provides for eleven pairs of service wires, the terminal here chosen for illustration and description carries twenty-two oi the terminal posts 11. However, sixteen pair and twenty-six pair terminals are also commonly encountered in commercial telephone practice and the construction dimensions and arrangement of the distributing terminal are such that any desired number of pairs of terminal posts, within reasonable limits, of course, may be employed. In fact, one of the advantages arising from the method of the present invention is that it greatly facilitates, as compared with methods heretofore employed for installing a distributing terminal, the operation or" changing the count or" a terminal, i. e., removing the face plate from a terminal from which say eleven pairs of service wires have previously been run, and substituting for it another panel having a greater number, say

wenty-six pair, and making suitable connections between each of the greater number of terminal posts it and the properly electrically associated insulated conductors of which only eleven pairs of conductors were connected with the face plate previously employed.

lhe panel I3 and the outer ends of its several terminal posts ll are shielded behind the cover at which is hinged at the top as by means of axialigned pivot pins 32 carried by upstanding legs 33 at the opposite ends of the shell i i. These pivot pins 33 engage ears 34 which extend upwardly from the upper edges of end flanges 3B which extend inwards from the two ends of the cover 3! with the result that the axis of the pivot pins 32 is offset inwardly from the center of gravity of the cover 3| far enough to assure that the cover is retained in its closed position by gravity, iereby establishing sufficiently tight engagement with the forward edges of a boxlike flange 3? which extends forward from the shoulder iE. Hence, the flange 37, the panel [3, and the cover 5%, the latter including the end flanges 35 which embrace the outer faces of the vertical or end portions of the flange 3?, form a boxlike enclosure within which the outer ends of the terminal posts ii are adequately protected from the weather even though access thereto is easily achieved simply by raising the cover 3L A plurality of holes 33 extend vertically through the lowest portion of the flange 3'? establishing communication between the exterior of the shell and this enclosure within which the outer ends of the terminal posts I? are situated.

It is through these holes 38 that the service wires 31% or terminal wires may lead in order to connect them to their respectively associated terminal posts ll.

Axially aligned holes ll (see Figs. 6 and 7) are provided in the two ends of the shell 1 l and each is provided with a stumng box d2 which may be integral with the shell H, or as illustrated may be threadedly engaged therewith in such a manner as to be rigidly mounted upon the shell and to provide a hermetically tight seal so as to prevent leakage of either gas or liquid where the stufling boxes 52 make contact with their respective end walls '13 of the shell. Each stufiing box is characterized by a bore i l of relatively large diameter a counterbore of slightly greater diameter with a flat annular shoulder t? separating the bore it and counterbore it. Each stuifing box is also provided with a gland nut 38 threadedly engaged upon its outer end. In some instances, it may be desirable to employ the shell I l as a junction box interconnecting the several individually electrically insulated conductors 5| of a branch cable 52 (see Figs. 5 and 6) to certain of the individually electrically insulated conductors oi the main cable 5 either in addition to its function as a distributing terminal or as a supplementary function thereof in addition to its function of serving as a means for connecting the service wires to certain of the conductors E3 of the main cable Toward this end, the shell H is provided with an additional entrance opening 56 in bottom wall and leading into the interior of the shell behind the panel 13 as clearly shown in 'sig. 6. This auxiliary entrance opening 53 is also provided with a stufling box 5? and gland nut .38 similar in design to those hereinabove described at the ends of the shell.

The means for suspending the shell l l in operative position preferably comprise hook shaped brackets ill one or" which extends substantially horizontally inwards from the pivot supporting leg 33 at each end at the top of the shell, the parts being so proportioned that the hook portion or each bracket El is approximately over the center of gravity of the shell and the weight carried thereby after insulation has been completed. Additionall an upstanding boss 63 is provided upon the top 6 3 of the shell midway between its ends, the parts being so proportioned and arranged that a straight line interconnecting the upper extreme of the two hook portions s2 will clear the upper edge 66 of the boss 53 by a distance less than the diameter of the strand 6? upon which the distributing terminal is to be suspended. Moreover, clearance is provided between the ends of the hook shaped brackets and the top as of the shell immediately therebelow great enough to permit the cable to be passed therethrough and into the hook portions 52 thereof by moving the cable laterally with respect to the shell, or, more accurately, by moving the shell laterally with respect to the stand 6? so as to engage the hooks ti upon the strand. In so doing, however, the portion of the strand 67 between the two brackets El will have to be deflected upward slightly, as best shown in Fig. l, in order to permit it to seat upon the upper edge 6 3 of the boss E3. lhe advantage of this arrangement lies in the fact that the tension of the strand ti serves to retain the shell from slipping longitudinally along the strand Bl after it has once been located thereon in desired position and thereby avoids end of the boss '35 in position for its head to engage the strand 6? and thereby prevent its accidental lateral displacement'from the boss-53 (see Fig. 6)

The distributing terminal thus far described constitutes the-preferred form of apparatus-tube used in performing the method embodying the principles of the present invention. It is to be understood, however, that I do not wish to be limited, in the performance of my improved method, to this specific form of apparatus, as will become-apparent as the following description of themethod progresses.

The first step in the performance of my improved and simplified method'of installing a distributing terminal is illustrated in Fig. l and comprises suspending the shell II upon the supporting strand in approximately the position, considered long tudinally of the shell, which it is to occupy when installation is completed. Mounting the shell II upon the strand 6'! is performed as hereinabove described, i. e., engaging the two hook shaped brackets Si upon the strand 61. If more than one such distributing terminal-is to be installe' n the length of the run of main cableb rung, all of such a plurality of distributing terminals should be mounted in this manner upon their respective supporting strands a step preliminary to stringing the cable 54. it $143 t successive step in the performance of my method is to run the main cable '54, threading or reeving it through each of the several distributing terminals in the order of their occurrence along the line, according to which cable 54 is being run, with the result that the cable 54 extends through each such distributing terminal in a longitudinal direction, entering the shell II of each through the stufiing box 42 at one end thereof and leaving through the other stuffing box thereof,-as illustrated in Fig. 2. When so stringing or running the cable 54, however, a loop IOI of slack is left adjacent each of the several distributing terminals through which that run of cable 54 extends.

A predetermined length of cable-is thenstripped of its sheathing I03, leaving a length I04 thereof wherein the individually electrically insulated conductors 53 thereof are exposed ,for a distance substantially greater than the length thereof necessary to extend through the shell. In so stripping the sheathing I63 from the cable 54 two new ends It'd and I0? of the sheathing-are formed. The gland nut 48 is then unscrewed from the stuffing box 42 on the end of the shell I I proximal to the loop I01 and it, the gland nut 43, is slid along the cable 54 past the stripped portion I64 thereof and for a suilicient distance beyond the farther new end ill! formed when the said stripping is performed, to accommodate-a packing 10.8. This packing I58 can easily and with relatively little expense be built up by first painting a suitable length of the sheathing I03 with a suitable waterproofing compound, and then by using conventional electricians rubber tape and friction (tape as, for example, by winding one or two layers we (see Fig. 8) of friction tape upon the exterior of the sheathing I03 fora distance of approximatel 6". These'layers of friction tape are then covered with one or more layers III of rubber tape, preferably considerably wider than theft-lotion tape, say in the order of 2" width,

ill

until all of the friction .tape is covered .by the rubber tape which, instead of being .built up in cylindrical form wherein the gasket or packing tiontape l 53. Thereafter a substantially cylindrical portion I M is built upto a diameter substantially corresponding to the inside diameter of the largerportion is-of the bore '44 of the associated stufling box- .2, this cylindrical portion I It preferably being composed mainly of rubber tape but covered with one or more layers of friction tape. Moreover, this cylindrical portion H4 is formed on the foundation portion H2 at the sectionof greatest diameter thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 7.

Preferably, a coating of suitable sealing compound is then applied, anda radially split washer IZI is then slipped onto the cable 54 between the shell H and the packing 88, this split washer I2! corresponding in outside diameter to the inside diameter of the larger portion 45 of the bore 4 -3 of the associated stufling box. Another split wash-er :22 of slightly largeroutside diameter is then slipped onto the cable i l between the pack ing Hi3 and the associated gland nut 48 as best shown in Fig. 3.

The next procedural-step is to shift the cable E tend/or the shell H so that the newly formed end on the sheathing I33 passes longitudinally through the shell HI to a point beyond that which it is to occupy upon the completion of the installation, whereupon a similar packing Ilia is formed thereon, similar washers I2I, I22 slipped-onto the cable; both ends ll'lt and IQ! of the sheathing should then be drawn "ito their respectivelg associated stuffingboxes and simultaneously therewith for ng a loop I26 of the bared portions lid of the insulated conductors :73 which hangs out through the open front of the shell H, as clearly indicated in Fig. 4. In so seating the packings H58 within their respective stuffing boxes, the smaller of the two split washers 2| will be brought into seating relation with the shoulder 47, as illustrated in .iig. 7, 'and'when the associated gland nut tightened upon its stufling box 42 the associated cylindrical portion Ht of the packing 1'88 will be compressed between thetwo washers 112i and IE2, thus erectively providing a liquldgas tight seal between the cable 5:1 and the shell I I where the cable passes through the associated of the shell.

An overall coating of su table seal ng compound may then be applied to the entire e. eriorly oi:- posed surface of the stuffing box E2, the gland nut ed, the packing i613, and the immediately adjacent portion of the sheathing 193.

The individual conductors 53 which are to be providedwith terminals a particular distributare then se ected, identi being performed in the manner farrliar to those skilled in the art. Each such individual conductor is then bared of its insulation for approximately not at an end of the conductor, but at a bight portion thereof, one of the principal advantages of the resent method being that it avoids the necessi y of cutting, splicing, or insulating any such splices and also the necessity of -forming a difiicult, expensive and time-conselecting from said looped insulated conductors those certain ones to be provided with terminals, removing the insulation from each of said selected conductors for a length sufficient to be engaged with a terminal post and a terminal post individual thereto 03111861 by and extending through a face plate, and seating the sheathed portions of all of said conductors within said shell, and aflixing said face plate in closing relation to the opening in the front of said shell.

2. lhe method of installing a distributing terminal upon a sheathed, multi-conductor electrical cable, which comprises suspending a terminal shell in approximately the position which it is to occupy when installation is completed, reeving the cable which is to have terminals established therefor through stuffing boxes in opposite walls of said shell, stripping the sheathing .from said cable to expose the individually insulated conductors thereof for a distance substantially greater than the length thereof to extend through said shell, locating said shell and said cable with respect to each other so that both of the ends of said sheathing formed by said stripping are outside said shell and said shell is disposed between said ends, forming a packing on said sheathing adjacent each of said ends, forming the portions of said insulated conductors exposed by said stripping into a loop extending through the open front of said shell and drawing said ends of said sheathing into said shell and thereby seating said paokings within said stuffing boxes, tightening gland nuts on said stufiing boxes to compress said packings therein, selecting from said looped insulated conductors those certain ones to be provided with terminals, removing the insulation from a bight portion of of said selected conductors for a length siuiicient to be engaged with a terminal post and each to a terminal post individual thereto carried by and extending through a face plate whereby all of said selected conductors are electrically connected to their respectively associated terminal posts without severing any of them and without splicing, and seating the sheathed portions of all of said conductors within said shell, and afiixing said face plate in closing relation to the opening in the front of said shell.

3. The method of installing a distributing terminal upon a sheathed, multico-nductor electrical cable, which comprises suspending a terminal shell in approximately the position which it is to occupy when installation is completed, reeving the cable which is to have terminals established therefor through stuffing boxes in opposite walls of said shell, stripping the sheathing "om said cable to expose the individually insulated conductors thereof for a distance substantially greater than the length thereof necessary to extend through said shell, locating said shell and said cable with respect to each other so that both of the ends of said sheathing formed by said stripping are outside said shell and said shell is, disposed between said ends, forming on said sheathing adjacent each of said ends a packing of greater diameter than the smallest portion of the associated stuffing box, forming the portions of said insulated conductors exposed by said stripping into a loop extending through the open front of said shell and drawing said ends of said sheathing into said shell until inward motion of said packings with respect to said shell is arrested by outwardly directed shoulders in said stufling boxes, tightening gland nuts on said stufiing boxes to compress said packings therein, selecting from said looped insulated conductors those certain ones to be provided with terminals, removing the insulation from each of said selected conductors for a length sufficient to be engaged with a terminal post and an ering each to a terminal post individual thereto carried by and extending through a face plate, and seating the sheathed portions of all of said conductors within said shell, and afiixing said face plate in closing relation to the opening in the front of said shell.

4. The method of installing a distributing terminal upon a sheathed, multi-conductor cable, which comprises suspending a terminal shell in approximately the position which it is to occupy when installation is completed, reeving the cable which is to have terminals established therefor through stufling boxes in opposite walls of said shell, stripping the sheathing from said cable to expose the individually insulated conductors thereof for a distance substantially greater than the length thereof necessary to extend through said shell, locating said shell and said cable with respect to each other so that both of the ends of said sheathing formed by said stripping are outside said shell and said shell is disposed between said ends, forming a packing on said sheathing adjacent each of said ends, placing on said cable between each of said packings and the associated stuifing box a washer of greater diameter than the smallest portion or" that stuffing box, forming the portions of said insulated conductors exposed by said stripping into a loop extending through the open front of said shell and drawing said ends of said sheathing into said shell until inward motion of said packings is arrested by outwardly directed shoulders in said stufling boxes with said washers under compression between their respectively associated shoulders and packings, tightening gland nuts on said stuifing boxes to compress said packings therein, selecting from said looped insulated conductors those certain ones to be provided with terminals, removing the insulation from each of said selected conductors for a length sufiicient to be engaged with a terminal post and affixing each to a terminal post individual thereto carried by and extending through a face plate, and seating the sheathed portions of all of said conductors within said shell, and afilxing said face plate in closing relation to the opening in the front of said shell.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,318,755 Channell May 11, 1943 2,434,102 Channell Jan. 6, 1948 2,496,949 ltIalhiOt Feb. 7, 1950 2,507,780 Gilbert May 16, 1950 2,536,778 Steinmayer Jan. 2, 1951 

